Never Not Sick

Backgound info: 30F. Medications include Vyvanse 40mg (ADHD) and Accutane 40mg (lifelong acne, likely related to PCOS), but issue predates these. Vitamins taken are fish oil and joint support supplements to help with Accutane side effects. Substances currently include very occasional alcohol (<1 per month). I smoked cigarettes for a couple years back when I was around 18, so quit over a decade ago. Smoked weed through my teens and early 20s but haven't touched it in years.

So this is a bit of a weird one. I had strep a couple times when I was younger, cold and flu here and there, but for most of my life I've been pretty lucky with missing flu season and feeling like illness was pretty rare for me. And then one day, about 2.5 years ago, I got strep for the first time in adulthood. Got it again a few months later. And from there it was like it just never stopped. Every month, I was having to go to urgent care to get tested, get my antibiotics, suffer through it, get a new toothbrush, rinse and repeat.

But that wasn't it. Two of those times, I tested positive for strep, covid, AND the flu. The first time was crazy, but the second was just unbelievable. In both cases, the doctor treating me said they've never seen that before. They asked if I have kids or am around kids a lot for my job, but neither of these are true. I don't have kids. I don't have friends with kids. I work from home and honestly don't leave the house much except for groceries or to outings that take place outdoors (walking my dog, hiking, running).

A few months ago, I had my normal signs of strep again. Sore throat, dry cough, feeling like I swallowed glass. Except every time I've had strep in the past, I had white flecks on my tonsils, and this time I didn't. I still went to get it tested, because if it was then I wanted to start the antibiotics ASAP. Again they tested me for strep, covid, and flu, but this time I was negative for all 3, so they sent me away with "it's an upper respiratory infection, you'll be fine in a couple weeks." A couple weeks went by and I was still just as sick. A month went by and I was still miserable. Over the next 3 months or so, it slowly got better but never fully went away. Even if I wasn't actively coughing, I could go into a fit if I breathed too heavy or laughed too hard. Thought I was finally over it, and then a couple days ago it came back full force. Shards of glass throat. No white flecks on the tonsils so I didn't even go get tested this time.

Another very weird thing to note is that never, not once, did I get anyone else sick, including my boyfriend who I've been with this whole time and who I live with, and close friends who I was seeing every week closer to the start of this. My boyfriend works on-site so has a lot more exposure to other people, but out of this whole 2+ years, he's gotten sick one time, and he caught it first instead of the other way around.

I can't help but wonder if this could be indicative of a larger problem? Should I be looking into getting my tonsils removed? Do I just have bad luck? Is my boyfriend somehow a carrier but doesn't get it himself? Am I unknowingly immunocompromised in some way? Has anyone seen this before? What was the outcome? I've looked into chronic strep and long covid, but since my issue seems to be all throat conditions spanning strep, covid, flu, AND upper respiratory infection, I'm not sure that makes sense. I just don't know what to do and I'm so sick of being sick.